Coaching Pathway

Coaching education is the backbone of BC Athletics athlete development.

Great coaches build great athletes.

Read the steps below on how you can get started in coaching and coach education!

Becoming a Coach 

1. ​Become a BCA Coach Member to receive insurance and discounts on education courses 
2. Find a Club near you
3. Start your Coach Education Pathway (below) 

Coaching Education Pathway 

  Click the links below the graphic for more Information

Find Your Coaching Pathway

View Course Calender Submit a Course Request   Request to Host a Course

Learn More About Evaluations

Learn How to Maintain Certification Find Pro-d Events

Coach Development Model

Questions about coaching education? Email Jennifer Brown, BCA Coaching Education Coordinator.

Coaching Courses

Coaches require different knowledge and skills depending on who they are coaching. Rather than progressing from grassroots to podium, coaches take the pathway relevant to the athletes they are coaching.

Watch this video explaining the NCCP Athletics Canada coach education pathway. 

Follow to the chart below to find your appropriate pathway. 
Click on the courses or evaluations for more info

Course Interest/ Request Form

BC Athletics organizes Coaching Education courses throughout the year.  We would like to meet the needs of as many BC Coaches as possible. 

Check our Course Calendar before submitting a course interest/requset form to see if there's a course near you. See our courses descriptions to see which course is right for you.

Please complete the approprite form below to assist us in setting up the courses in areas of interest. 

Hosting Guidelines

All NCCP Courses Must be Pre-approved by BC Athletics 

MINIMUM NUMBERS:

• Minimum of 4 COACHES are required to host a course (exceptions may apply in remote areas)
• Minimum of 6 COACHES are needed to recieve 2 free host registrations
• BC Athletics can help promote the course to help fill the additional spaces

ROLES:

• ​BC Athletics covers all costs including Learning Faciliator fees (pay, travel, accomodation), facilities and insurance. They organize the Learning Faiclitator, manage registration, and help promote the course provincially
• We ask the Host Clubs help to finding local bookings for facility, equipment and promote the course locally 
   

SCHEDULES and EQUIPMENT LIST

• ​Our standard example schedules are below as well as suggested equipment. However, we can work with you to create a schedule to accomodate your needs and will connect you to the learning facilitator to arrange equipment. 
   
• We will be offering Foundations of Coaching (theory modules for Sport and Club Coach) online for coaches anywhere in the province. Clubs can then host just the Techincal portions of Sport and Club.

Evaluation

The first step to becoming certified is taking a Coaching Course
and becoming NCCP TRAINED (Find courses here)

From there, you can be evaluated to be NCCP CERTIFIED

Certification Requirements
Being certified requires completed all of the required evaluations including both the athletics and multi-sport evaluations. Evaluations can be completed in any order. 

** PERFORMANCE COACH EVALUATION: In order to complete a Performance Coach evaluation, you should be coaching a U20 or older athlete who is competing at the national level. The competition evaluation DOES NOT have to take place at nationals. It can take place at any competition that is appropriate for the athlete in question. A non-exhaustive list includes: university conference championships, provincial championships, elite invitational competitions. Email Hailey Kjaer if the meet you have in mind is appropriate.

Follow the links below for more information about the evaluation process

How to Register and Complete Your Evaluation

Evaluation Timeline*Self paced but may take a minimum of a month. Click the link to learn more. 

Why Become Certified? *Professional standards, lifelong learning, mentorship, team requirements

Important Notes​*How to challenge the evaluation, minimum age, maintaining certification.

Maintenance of Certification

All NCCP Certified coaches in any context or sport are requried to maintan certification through ongoing learning and professional development points. 

Once certified, coaches have 5 years to collect the required Pro-D Points shown below. If they do not, their status will changed to Trained until they collect the required amount. 
 

How can you earn Pro-D Points?

See the chart below on how you can earn pro-d points. Check out the our Professional Development Tab for some options, along with accessible options to earn your points! 

How to self-report pro-d points under your profile in the locker:

How can I check how many PD points I have? 

• Log in to the locker.
• Click profile > certification > maintenance (see green circle in photo above)

This will show you how many points you have out of how many you need, and when your cycle starts (year you were certified) and when it expires (how long you have to collect the required points)

Find Out More about Maintenance of Certification and PD Points:

• Athletics Canada’s NCCP Website 
• Coaching Association of Canada 

Professional Development

Professional Development is key to life long learning and coach development
Attend pro-d events for your own development at any time,
or collect professional develompent points to maintain your certification.

This document list's some of the accessible, free or inexpensive way you can collect pro-d points. 

Types of Pro D:

NCCP Multi-Sport Courses

NCCP courses (multi-sport, athletics, or evaluation) will provide you with 5 pro-d points. Multi-sport courses are offered in person or online by viaSport and the Regional Alliance (see calendar here) and in other provinces (login and visit the locker calendar). 

NCCP e-Learning Courses

NCCP e-Learning courses are available as multi-sport, athletics, and other sports and can be completed on your own time. They are worth between 1 and 5 points pending length. Click here to access e-Learning courses by logging into the locker. ​

Non-NCCP Professional Development Webinars

The following organizations offer a variety of webinars. Some have pro-d points available automatically, others you can self-report your points on the locker (See maintenance of certification for information on how to do so)

Grants and Bursaries

At BC Athletics we recognize that attending coaching courses may not be financially assessible for all coaches. The grants below are available to help support your needs. 

Minimum Standards for Coach Membership

All coaches must take the Safe Sport training through The Locker.

Step 1: Get an NCCP Number 

• Takes just 2 minutes and is FREE!
• Follow this link:  https://thelocker.coach.ca/Account/login?mode=register

Step 2: Take an NCCP Coaching Course (In-Training) 

• Look at the yearly coaching calendar and plan ahead
• Follow this link:  http://www.bcathletics.org/Education/Sub/upcoming-courses-pro-d-sessions/250/ 

Step 3: Complete Additional Requirements (Trained) 

• All coaches in all sports need to take the Make Ethical Decisions course or MED online evaluation
• Find courses here:  http://www.bcathletics.org/Education/Sub/upcoming-courses-pro-d-sessions/250/ 
• Or Find courses here:  http://www.viasport.ca/coaching/nccp-course-calendar

Still have Questions or Need More Information?  

Below are some links to provide you with all the details of BC Athletics New Minimum Standards for Coach Membership.

Link to the initial email sent from BCA President and BCA CEO:

http://www.bcathletics.org/admin/js/elfinder/files/Coaching/InitialEmailFromBrianGregAug2016.pdf 

Making Sense of the New BCA Minimum Coach Standards (FAQ and Solutions):

http://www.bcathletics.org/admin/js/elfinder/files/Coaching/FAQFlyer.pdf

3 Simple Steps to Becoming Trained:

http://www.bcathletics.org/admin/js/elfinder/files/Coaching/3StepsFlyer.pdf

Graphic Explanation of Athletic Canada's NCCP Coaching Pathway:

http://www.bcathletics.org/admin/js/elfinder/files/Coaching/AthleticsCoachingPathwaySportCoachClubCoach.pdf

FAQ

How do I access course manuals? 

What is an NCCP number? 

What is In-Training vs Trained vs Certified? 

How do I find what trainings or certifications I have?

What are the age requirements to be trained or Certified? 

Do I need a BC Athletics Coach membership for courses? 

How can I receive financial assistance? 

Where do I find evaluation rubrics? 

Do I need to take Athletics Courses before the evaluation? 

Do I need to take the multi-sport courses before the evaluation? 

What is an NCCP Number? ​

• An NCCP number gives you access to the Locker, which is the Coaching Association of Canada's database system for all sports. All your coach education will be tracked on the Locker.
• You can login to the Locker to view your coach education transcript, course history, professional development points, as well as take online courses and multi-sport evaluations 
• Sign up for an NCCP number or look up your number here.  It's free and takes two minutes!  

What is NCCP In-Training vs Trained vs Certified?

• There are three levels of NCCP certification for any pathway: 
  • In-Training: Taken partial course requirements. 
  • Trained: Taken all course requirements (ex. athletics courses & multi-sport courses) 
  • Certified: Completed all evaluations required (ex. athletics evaluations & multi-sport evaluations) 
     

How do I find our what Trainings or Certifications I have?

• Click here to login to the locker with your NCCP Number
• Click on the "Certification" tab at the top 
• You will see all the courses and certificaitons that you have as well as your NCCP Status (in-training, trained, or certified)
• OR click the "history" tab to see a timeline of when you have taken your trainings
   

What are the age requirements? ​

• The minimum age to obtain a Coach Membership with BC Athletics is 15 
• However, coaches can start their NCCP training (i.e., take a course) in preparation for coaching at 14
• The minimum age to be NCCP Certified (i.e., take an evaluation) is 16 

​

​Do I need a BC Athletics coach membership for courses?

• No, you do not need to have a coach membership to enrol in courses. However, being a BC Athletics member will grant you discounts for many of the coaching courses available. 

How do I access course manuals?

• Electronic Copies 
  • The NCCP Course Manuals are accessible for free online to all coach members and course participants under the "Documents" tab at https://athletics.ca/coach/
  • Coaches will need their BCA Coach Membership Number (this is the same as your Athletics Canada number) to sign up or log in. You can look up your BCA number here. 
     
• Hard Copies 
  • Coaches have the option of ordering hard copies of the course manuals for a fee. You can order them with your course registration or seperately by filling out this form. The fees are listed below: 
    • Sport Coach Workbook: $15.00 + GST and Shipping (used in Foundations of Coaching Online Theory Modules)
    • Club Coach Workbook: $17.00 + GST and Shipping (used in Foundations of Coaching Online Theory Modules and Club Coach Course)
    • Sport and Club Coach Technical Manual: $14.00 + GST and Shipping (use in Sport and Club Coach Technical Course)

How can I receive financial assistance?

• Please visit our Grants & Bursaries page to learn more about financial assistance options for coaches. 

Where do I find evaluation rubrics?

• The evaluation rubrics provide you with a check list of what is required for your portfolio and observations. 
• Login to Atheltics Canada. You can sign in with your Atheltics Canada number (same as your BC Athletics number - found here) 
• Click on "Documents", then select your context from the drop down menu and download the "Marking Rubric" 

Do I need to take athletics courses before the evaluation?

• No, the evaluation assesses the coaches knowledge and competency. You can obtain this compentncy from the course, on your own, and take the evaluation when you feel ready. 
• However, 
  • If you take the athletics course first, you have unlimited attemptes to pass. If you skip the course and go straight to the evaluation, you have one attempt to pass and if you don't, you will need to take the course first before attempting the evaluation again. 

Do I need to take the multi-sport courses before the evaluation?

• No, however: 
  • If you take the multi-sport course first, the evaluations are free with unlimited attemptes to pass with 75% of higher. 
  • If you skip the course and go straight to the evaluation, the cost is $85.00 with 3 attempts to pass with 75% or higher. 
• To take the multi-sport evaluation, login to the locker and click the e-learning tab to find your respective evaluation (all are online).